From the Publishers Desk

From the Publishers Desk

departments

Home Inspections Pay Off In Chicago’s Inner-City

We received a booklet recently from the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration that describes the fire prevention education program developed by the Chicago Fire Prevention Bureau starting in 1975. A key feature of this program was “Operation Pride: Home Inspections in Urban Neighborhoods.”

Operation Pride was designed to reduce the fire incidence in inner-city neighborhoods through a voluntary home inspection and clean-up program. In this program, teams of fire fighters went door to door and block by block to spread the gospel of residential fire safety. And with the residents’ permission offered to conduct a home fire inspection. During these informal sessions, team members pointed out potential hazards for the residents to correct. For residents who refused entry, the teams distributed fire safety and escape planning literature.

The teams, of course, recognized that many conditions in a building were difficult, if not impossible, for the residents to correct. Nevertheless, they emphasized what a resident could do: clean up of trash and proper storage of items in apartments, halls and stairways which eventually became the theme of Operation Pride. With each inspection, the teams handed out a notice that the Department of Sanitation would send extra trucks for special neighborhood trash pickups within a few days. It was recognized that the program’s success depended on the cooperation between the fire and sanitation departments. If the trucks did not arrive according to inspection schedules, the credibility of the entire program might have suffered.

Rather than risk missing schedules or overcommitting the sanitation department, the fire prevention bureau decided to concentrate the program in three battalions with the highest fire incident rate. The records of one battalion shows that fires fell from 1211 in 1974 to 788 in 1976—no mean accomplishment even if all the reduction was not due to the inspection program.

LAFD SUV in the ocean

Los Angeles Firefighter Swept Into Ocean as Mudslides Hit CA

A Los Angeles Fire Department vehicle was pushed into the ocean as heavy rains sent debris across several roadways.

Grandville (MI) Fire Truck Hit While Responding to I-196 Rollover

Michigan State Police are reminding drivers to pull over for emergency vehicles after a fire truck was struck Wednesday night.